My Fair Mistress Read Online Free PDF Page B

I shall see myself out.”

Chapter Three
    W HAT ABOUT THIS one, Jules? Wouldn’t it make a stunning riding habit?”
    Julianna glanced over at the sample of cloth Maris held out, a luxurious Prussian blue velvet far too bold for an ingénue of seventeen. Julianna raised a ruefully amused eyebrow, well aware of the game she and her sister had been playing ever since they’d arrived at the dressmaker’s shop nearly an hour before.
    “It would make a lovely riding habit for me, ” Julianna said. “As I think on it, I may ask Madame LaCroix to make it up for my wardrobe. I could do with a new riding outfit.”
    Maris thrust out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout. “I don’t see why I cannot wear any of the pretty colors. Pinks and whites and pale yellows, ugh! I shall look like a washed-out fright in all these insipid pastels.”
    “You won’t look a fright,” Julianna repeated, doing her best to hide her amusement at her sister’s melodramatic declaration. “You’ll look beautiful. You know you are radiant in whatever color you wear.”
    “Well, I don’t feel radiant. I feel ordinary. Don’t you think I would look much better in this?” Maris lifted up a length of emerald green satin. “See?” she urged, displaying the cloth next to her fair skin and dark hair. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”
    Julianna shook her head. “You are not going to talk me into it, dear. You know debutantes must wear subdued shades. When you are a married lady, you may wear any color you like, but until then…” She shrugged, letting her statement drift off.
    “How wonderful to be a married woman!” Maris sighed. “Free of all these horrid rules and restrictions.”
    Not always so wonderful, Julianna thought as she perused the bolts of available fabrics. Contentment in marriage and the amount of freedom a lady had depended largely upon one’s spouse. She wanted Maris to take her time and find the right man. She wanted Maris to find someone who would make her happy.
    Julianna reached for a sprigged muslin, cream-colored with a sprinkling of tiny purple violets. “How about this? It would make a charming day dress.”
    “Hmm, I suppose it would.” Reaching out a hand, Maris held a length of the material up to the cheery sunlight streaming in through the shop’s front windows. “Actually, I quite like it.” She paused. “I’m sorry to be so difficult, Jules. I know you are right and only trying to advise me properly. I’m just nervous about my debut. What if I don’t take? What if no one likes me? They say blondes are de rigueur this year.”
    “Don’t be silly,” Julianna shushed. “Everyone will adore you, and once they see that pretty face of yours, brunettes will suddenly be all the rage instead of blondes.” She dusted a reassuring kiss over her sister’s youthful cheek. “Quit worrying. You are going to have a wonderful Season, and you are forbidden to fret about a thing. Your only task is to have fun. You are a dear, sweet girl. No one will be able to resist you, especially the gentlemen.”
    Maris gave her a hopeful smile. “You truly think so?”
    “I know so. Now go try on the pink polonaise Madame set aside for you. Let’s see if the style suits.”
    “Pink, ugh!” Maris gave a mock shudder, rolled her eyes, and stuck out her tongue like the child she still was. Grinning, she strolled dutifully toward the fitting rooms in the rear.
    If only my own troubles could be so simple, Julianna mused. With nothing more to worry about than the color of my next dress, and whether or not I will be popular this Season.
    Over the past week, Julianna had racked her brain, trying to conceive of some way out of her agreement with The Dragon. She understood now why others called him that, the moniker more than a simple play on his unusual surname.
    The man truly was a beast. A quick, cunning adversary who could mesmerize a person with his cool green gaze, lull you with his words, then burn you crisp as toast before you